Lausanne World Pulse – African Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity: An Overview
By Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu
Pentecostalism is the fastest growing stream of Christianity in the world today. In fact, the movement is reshaping religion in the twenty-first century.1“Pentecostalism” may be defined as that stream of Christianity which emphasizes personal salvation in Christ as “a transformative experience wrought by the Holy Spirit.” Subsequent to that initial experience, such pneumatic phenomena as “speaking in tongues,” prophecies, visions, healing, miracles and signs and wonders have come to be accepted, valued and encouraged among members as evidence of the active presence of God’s Spirit.2“Charismatic” generally refers to historically younger Pentecostal independent and parachurch movements, many of which function within non-Pentecostal denominations. The expression “charismatic” itself derives from St. Paul’s reference to charismata pneumatika, “Gifts of the Spirit,” in 1 Corinthians 12-14. Thus St. Paul uses the expression to refer to those “extraordinary divine graces” that believers manifest on account of their experience of the Holy Spirit.
Rise of Pentecostal Christianity in Africa
Pentecostalism is not a monolithic movement and what I refer to as “African Pentecostalism” are the specific African initiatives, appropriations and contributions to the growth, significance and impact of Pentecostalism as a global phenomenon. In Africa the precursors of Pentecostalism were indigenous prophet figures, many who were persecuted out of historic mission denominations for pursuing spiritualities sometimes scandalously perceived by church authority as belonging to the occult. They include prophets William Wadé Harris of the Gold Coast (Ghana), Garrick Sokari Braide of the Niger Delta, Simon Kimbangu of the Congo, Isaiah Shembe of South Africa and others. At the turn of the nineteenth century these prophets challenged Africans to throw away their traditional resources of supernatural succor and turn toward the living God of the Bible. Many of these revivalistic prophetic campaigns only resulted in independent churches when the prophets had left the scene.
“In Africa today, we not only have major Western mission-related Pentecostal
denominations
but also African-initiated ones.”
The prophetic movements were thus followed by the emergence of the popular Spiritual, Aladura or Zionist churches known collectively as “African independent” or “African initiated” churches (AICs). Healing became the single most important activity in the AICs, but many of them strayed into therapeutic methods that were not Christian. Subsequently, it has become contentious to regard these older AICs as Pentecostal without qualification. Since then African Pentecostalism has blossomed in many directions.
Classical Pentecostal denominations have gained much prominence on the continent. In South Africa for example, the Assemblies of God, Apostolic Faith Mission and the Full Gospel Church of God belong to this tradition. Some have their roots in North America but the bulk of classical Pentecostal churches operating in Africa were initiated locally; foreign assistance often came later. Other Pentecostal collectivities found in Africa include: New Pentecostal Churches (NPCs), trans-denominational Pentecostal fellowships like the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International (FGBMFI), Women Aglow and Intercessors for Africa; and charismatic renewal groups of the mainline churches. Together with itinerant international Pentecostal preachers and prophets, these have taken over the religious landscape as the new faces of African Christianity.
So in Africa today, we not only have major Western mission-related Pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God originating from the United States, but also African-initiated ones like William F. Kumuyi’s Deeper Christian Life Ministry, which started in Nigeria in 1973. In addition, there are the multitudinous “mega” independent NPCs like Mensa Otabil’s International Central Gospel Church in Ghana, David O. Oyedepo’s Word of Faith Mission International or Winner’s Chapel of Nigeria and Andrew Wutawanashe’s Family of God in Zimbabwe, which were also born out of local initiatives. Additionally, African Pentecostal churches have become a dominant force in Western Europe and North America. The fact that African religions have emerged in Europe not as primal forms but in terms of Christianity is itself evidence of the growing strength of the Christian faith in modern Africa. To this end, the largest single Christian congregation in western Europe since Christianity began is Nigerian Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo’s Kingsway International Christian Center (KICC) in London.